Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford and Pats-Jets on MNF

FOXBORO — Everyone and their brother ‘ and sister ‘ is looking ahead to next Monday night at Gillette Stadium and the battle of the Patriots and Jets, a pair of 9-2 teams battling it out for supremacy in the AFC East and the AFC.

Six days prior, we thought a look back might be in order. It was Oct. 18, 1976, when the 3-2 Patriots battled the 1-4 Jets ‘ coached by Lou Holtz, believe it or not. The Patriots would go on to finish 11-3 only to lose out on the division to the Baltimore Colts. As a wild card, the Pats went out to Oakland and were done in by the Raiders, with a little help from referee Ben Dreith.

On this night at the old Schaefer Stadium on Route 1, the Chuck Fairbanks-led Patriots had their way with the Jets ‘ and a quarterback by the name of Joe Namath ‘ in a 41-7 rout.

So, while we all get lost in looking forward, let’s take a look back at another Monday night showdown between the Jets and Patriots in Foxboro, courtesy the folks at ABC.